Summer of 1975
by auzziewitch
Summary: A little trinket about childhood promises. MS R


Hey guys. This is just a one-off i felt compelled to write for some unknown reason.

**Title: Summer of 1975  
Rating: G (if not lower)  
Disclaimer: Don't own _Without a Trace_, the characters or anything else.  
Summary: Two children meet and make a promise one sunny summer day.**

The sun shone brightly in the sky above Washington D.C. It was a perfect day for a woman with her two young daughters to explore this great city.

Anna Spade had spent the past three years since the birth of her youngest daughter saving up for this trip. She wanted her two daughters to experience a true holiday, the true enjoyment of youth at least once in their lives without having to hear her cries as she felt her husband's fists pound her body leaving bright purple and blue marks.

On this great day, she woke her daughters early, settled the youngest into her pram and tied the loose ribbon to her eldest daughter's arm and pram so that she wouldn't get lost. As the day progressed the trio visited many places that were filled with tourists, both from other parts of the US and from across the globe.

Eventually they found themselves in a large open park where people were riding their bikes, walking their dogs, children were running and laughing. Anna came to a stop at a set of chairs looking over a small playground, which had few other children playing.

"Mommy can I go on the swings?" Her eldest daughter asked as she untied the ribbon.

"Sure, but stay where I can see you." She instructed, removing her youngest daughter from the pram and carrying her to the sandpit.

Without much hesitation, the three-year old toddler quickly had herself entertained with the thousands of grains of sand.

Anna smiled at her daughter, returning to the chairs and relaxing into them whilst sipping water from the bottle she had bought earlier on that day.

After some time, another woman with a stroller arrived at the same park and relaxed into the other chair whilst a little boy with brown hair jumped eagerly over to the sandpit.

"He's a good looking boy." Anna said to Angela nodding in the direction of Martin.

Angela glanced over at her. "Yeah. His mother say's he takes after his father." She responded.

"His mother?" Anna began confused. She was certain this other woman was that boy's mother.

"Oh, I'm just the nanny." She smiled.

Immediately Anna felt hurt. She'd spent three years saving up for this trip without her husband knowing, and at this moment he had no idea where they were. She was well aware that she would face a beating when she got home, but as long as she gave her daughters three day's without their drunk and abusive father, she would be forever happy.

"You're daughter's gorgeous." Angela commented, eyeing the pigtails and the little dress Samantha was wearing.

"Which one?" Anna chuckled lightly. "My elder daughter Clementine." She pointed to the top of the closest slide, were another little girl was standing.

"She's not much older than Samantha?" Angela commented.

"Clem is 5 and Samantha is 3."

"Well done. Mrs. Fitzgerald has three children, Genevieve, who is 11, Alana who is 7, and Martin, who's 4." Angela commented, nodding at Martin. "According to her, you have to have children with a decent break between them, anything less than 3 years is too close."

Anna raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Goodness."

"I'm glad, because I never listened to her when I had my two boys, Charlie and Jacob who are 6 and 5 respectively." Angela commented, reaching for her wallet and showing Anna the school picture of her sons."

"Their gorgeous."

"Hmm, but nothing compared to Martin. That little boy is going to be a heartbreaker one day." Anna looked up at the other woman with surprise, before they both once again looked at the two children playing in the sand pit.

"What's your name?" The little girl asked the little boy as they combined their efforts in building a sandcastle.

"Martin." The little boy said quietly, evidently a very shy child. "What's yours?" He asked with the same levels of shyness.

"Samantha." The little girl with blonde pigtails and pink cheeks responded. "Is that your mommy?" She asked, becoming preoccupied with the woman her mother was talking to.

"No." The little boy responded. "That's Angie. She's my pretend mommy." The little boy attempted to explain.

"Pretend mommy?" Samantha asked.

"She looks after me when my real mommy can't because my real mommy works a lot." He explained. Before another moment had passed, he had begun crying. "I want my mommy." He sobbed.

Samantha did what she did whenever Clementine started to cry. She ran to her mommy. "Mommy, Martin's crying." At this announcement Angela jumped from her seat and was sitting squatting beside the sandpit talking to Martin.

After a minute or two she returned to her seat, Martin still in the sandpit and evidently recovered. "You can go and play with him again Samantha." Angela said to the young girl.

"I don't want to make him cry again." Sam was now the one to shed a few tears.

"I assure you Sammy, you couldn't make that little boy cry. You're far too pretty." She placed a quick kiss on her daughter's forehead which seemed to make her feel better, for the moment her mother's arms loosened their grip she was squirming off her mother's lap and racing to the sandpit.

"Children!" Anna sighed to herself.

"I'm sorry if I made you cry." Samantha said after getting herself comfortable again amongst the sand.

"It's okay." He nodded, pressing more sand against their castle. "You're really nice."

For a little girl of the age of three, with blonde hair in long pigtails and wearing a Cinderella dress, to go bright red blushing can only mean one thing; the first crush.

"Thank you. You're really nice too." She responded to his compliment in much the same manner of shyness that he'd held for their entire conversation.

"Should we get married now?" He asked.

Both heard a laugh and turned to see Angela standing behind Martin. "Don't you both think you're a little young?" She asked before continuing. "I'm sorry Martin but your mom wanted you home by 6, and it's currently 5.30."

Martin glanced at Samantha, then back at Angela. "I may not marry Samantha now, but I will, when I'm big and old." He stated, which Angela nodded, knowing that it was quite possible that when he was 'big and old' he would have completely forgotten about this little blonde girl with pigtails.

"Who's getting married?" Anna asked, appearing beside Angela with Samantha's pram. "Come on Sammy, it's time we left. Clementine!" She called up at the slide.

"When I grow up, I'm gonna marry Samantha." Martin proudly announced.

Thirty years later, a young man by the name of Martin Fitzgerald stood in an office on the twelfth floor of the Federal Building in New York being introduced to the 3 other faces he would be working with in the Missing Person's Unit of the FBI. One, a woman with straight blonde hair caught his particular attention, and as he attempted to stare into her deep brown eyes, he could think of nothing but a promise he once made to a three year old girl with long blonde pigtails, and bright pink cheeks in a Cinderella dress.


End file.
